Wednesday 26 June 2013

Claiming my blog....

Just claiming my blog on Bloglovin .... Follow my blog with Bloglovin


Just because every blog post needs a photo.....this quilt is off on a journey....

Saturday 22 June 2013

Published again in July issue of Machine Quilting Unlimited...

Wow...what a great issue this is, and I have a tutorial in it too, fantastic cover shot of Margaret's Quilt.
I am humbled to be in such illustrious company with people whose blogs I have followed for such a long time....
Margaret Solomon Gunn Quilts of Love
Judi Madsen The Green Fairy
Luann Kess in her thread shed to name but a few....



I am as ever very proud and happy to have been asked to contribute again to this wonderful magazine, it is surely the premier magazine for the machine quilting industry, if you don't already subscribe hot foot it to your nearest magazine store or subscribe at MQU online for a digital or hard copy version, it's easy, you just need your CC details and an email address.

Tablet Pouch Page 1


Tablet Pouch page 2



Tablet Pouch page 3



WooHoo!

Thursday 20 June 2013

Selkirk 2013

Last Friday Kyle took a day off to ride at Selkirk with his Dad. Graham rode on Kyle's young horse but as Bess will be out of action for a long while Kyle had a new ride, a hired horse. A bit nerve racking but Patch turned out to be a nice ride, Kyle had a great time riding him. Beauty on the other hand was a bit excited and fit....

Selkirk Common Riding 2013


Selkirk Common Riding 2013

This was our view high in the hills at eight in the morning......I don't know the official horse count but it's usually over 400 for this ride....

Selkirk Common Riding 2013


This is the 'Standard Bearer' as they call him in Selkirk, it's a big anniversary for Selkirk as it's 500 years since the battle of Flodden.  The Standard Bearer  is enacting the celebration of the only man 'Fletcher' to return to Selkirk after the battle of Flodden, here is a news link about the day....

Selkirk Common Riding 2013

Apparently Graham gave spectators a bit of entertainment in the first field where the horses get their first gallop...young Beauty got a bit excited and threw in a bit of a buck and Graham turned into an acrobat but didn't loose hold of the reins, he waited till most of the horses had passed before remounting and following on towards the end of the ride....

Of course we didn't know this so were starting to wonder where they were at this vantage point high in the hills at 8am....We did eventualluy find Kyle who had been told that his Dad had fallen but was following on, we were relieved when we eventually saw Beauty in the distance....they were reunited and went on to enjoy the rest of the ride....


Selkirk Common Riding 2013


Selkirk Common Riding 2013

In the distance on the horizon the hill is 'The Three Brethren', there are three standing stones high on the top of the hill where the main party sing songs and give speeches before riding on and galloping off over the hills again. It was a beautiful day, last year it was wet and foggy and it can even snow on these rides.....Graham had time to eat the bacon butty that he still had in his pocket on the top of that hill....Kyle had eaten his but still had a chocolate bar to keep him going.

Selkirk Common Riding 2013




Selkirk Common Riding 2013

Here they are back in Selkirk galloping up The Toll.....we were back home for lunch....



Friday 14 June 2013

This and That...

Even though Ride Outs and Common Riding have and still are taking up one or two days a week I have been busy. What with? Well, a bit of this and a bit of that.....

I've piped and bound one of my own quilts and am trying to decide if it is really finished?

I have a custom quilt loaded and am doing the SiD work on it, I like to do all of the stitch in the ditch work first so that I can then roll the quilt back and forth and know it's all stable.

I decided it was time to do a little service work on my longarm. The chirper on my Stitch Regulator has been silent for too long. I had Amy at APQS send me a replacement circuit board along with another consignment recently.  It had been here a while so when I had a window and a few spare minutes I decided to tackle it. Only thing holding me back was getting someone to hold one end of the rails while I removed them, I can do it myself but it's safer with 2 people....then I just like to be left by myself to do the job.

Circuit board 1


Circuit board 3



Circuit board 2




Circuit board 4


All those wires look a little scary but really they are not, just unplug the wires, unclip the board, clip in the new board and plug the wires back in....screw the back panel back on and it's done....now my chirper is speaking to me again.....I like my chirper....


I had a couple of quilts picked up......

The first was a ZigZag quilt in blues and white, my customer Jan requested a watery theme as some of the fabrics were reminicent of indigos with Koi Carp prints. It was a big quilt for a Super king size bed.....

Jans ZigZag 2

Jans ZigZags 1


Janet's been using fabric from her stash, with a little forthought about the orientation of the fabrics it's an turned into an interesting quilt to stand and read....

Janets Newsprint quilt 3


Janets Newsprint quilt 2


Janets Newsprint quilt 1


I had a lovely phone call from Mary one of my customers during Quilts UK at Malvern to say that her quilt 'Stars in the Garden' had won her a 'judges choice' award and a 1st for me for Longarm Quilting. Mary is keeping the cup which already has my name on it and I get the rosette to add to my collection.


Quilts UK Malvern  rosette



Rosettes & Silverware


It's great to have a rosette of a different colour for a change, even though the rest are all golden yellow there is one second and a third the rest are all firsts....don't know why....must have been a bargain buy????

Monday 10 June 2013

Common Riding......

Thursday night is Colour Bussing night.......when the Cornets Lass ties the ribbons to the Flag and then the Cornet ties the ribbons on 'The Horse'.....the Cornet and his followers then take a walk around the town....




Friday was the main day for the Common Riding here in Hawick.....we were in town to watch the horses leave at 8.30am through the vennel at the Tower Knowe. Only Men and boysvare allowed to ride on Friday, women and girls are allowed to ride on Saturday.  My DH counted 324 horses with his sheep counter/clicker......here they are leaving to ride in procession around the town before heading off up to the Nipknowes....




On there way to 'the hut' the riders 'chase' up the Nipknowes, Acting Father and married men first then The Cornet, single men and boys follow....here's a short segment when the 324 horses came thundering by....fantastic sight....



After the traditional songs and speeches at the hut the horses and riders ride the boundaries and cut the sod before arriving at 'The Mair'' and all ride a circuit of the race track.

There's children racing and horse racing.... and eating and drinking....




The youngsters can earn a bit of money being 'a hodder' while the riders take a break for three or four hours. On a day like this it's not a difficult job....can you see how difficult this is....you have to lie down in the grass to do it....lol...







On the return to town, The Cornet visits the cobble pool to dip the flag in the river..........that's a potted version of the day....lots more going on besides.  All this celebrating and fun, how could it be any better on a day like this? Check back next year to see how much more fun can be had to celebrate 500 years of Hawick Common Riding?

Thursday 6 June 2013

Denholm.....

I know I'm a nearly a week late with this post but need to catch up a bit...

The Cornet at Denholm
Chris the Cornet with his Right and Left Hand Men and the Acting Father behind


Fieron had a first outing on her 'new to her' pony.....her brother Kyle rode a short way on her first to make sure Layla wasn't excited but also so that Dad could be sure he could concentrate on Beauty who is Kyles next horse....Beauty needs to be ridden on a little more so that Kyle can safely take her on his own.

Fieron and Layla got along famously...here they are on the Denholm rideout....

Fi joins in


Graham & Fieron



Safe Oot Safe In


It's always a relief when everyone is back safely.....

Wednesday 5 June 2013

Thursday Night Chase....

Horses can make you laugh and make you cry all in about five minutes.....

Bess was so well behaved at the Thursday Night chase last week we trusted her perfectly with Kyle and he handled her in his usual quiet and gentle way......

Kyle & Bess Thursday Night Chase



Chase 2013 Kyle and Bess



Then the next day we had a bit of a trauma.....Bess was at it again...self harming.....managed to get her leg wrapped around the feeder.....because she is the lovely natured horse that she is after an initial consultation and treatment with the Vet she is very lucky to be on the mend. Although not a pleasant job we can dress her wounds ourselves...shame she turns into a wild beast when she sees a hypodermic needle though?????


It's a big shame that Kyle has lost his riding partner at this stage in the Common Riding but she was on loan from Grandad...so time to move on a stage.....